Philly Film Festival ready to unspool

Kicking off on Oct. 18 and extending through 11 days, this year’s Philadelphia Film Festival will include nearly 100 features. The program has an international flair, with entries from such far-flung countries as France, Spain, Israel, Ghana, China, Argentina, South Korea and Turkey.

Once again, Ambler native Andrew Greenblatt will serve as the executive director of the 21st annual edition of the cinematic smorgasboard.

He said, “I think that the entirety of this year’s program is very impressive. We’re incredibly excited to be presenting it to the Philadelphia community.”

“I couldn’t imagine a more perfect film for our festival opening. It has tremendous Philadelphia ties, having shot in and around the city last year, starring locally-born Bradley Cooper and featuring the Philadelphia Eagles heavily throughout the film. It is funny, engaging and heartfelt, with spectacular performances all around.”

Greenblatt continues, “I can’t imagine there will be anyone who doesn’t love this film. Despite being in our largest venue, it has also been our quickest sellout ever.”

Greenblatt cited the late acquisition of another film, “Hyde Park on Hudson.” The biopic about President Franklin Delano Roosevelt stars Bill Murray.

Greenblatt explained, “We really wanted this film, but weren’t able to lock it in prior to printing the guide. From the minute we saw it at its premiere in the Toronto Film Festival, we had been speaking with Focus Features. We’re excited to be able to finally add it to our program. ”

Through the support of the Wyncote Foundation, the Philadelphia Film Festival has launched a new PFF on Us program. Under this program, people can register for free tickets for films in the American Independents portion of the festival.

Greenblatt amplified, “We’ve partnered with a lot of fantastic organizations in the city to distribute additional free tickets to their constituents. All of this is in an effort to make the festival more accessible to the entire city and to make the festival an even greater Philadelphia community event.”

The Philadelphia Film Festival has partnered with Comcast Xfinity, one of their official sponsors, to launch their own Festival VOD channel. There, audiences throughout the Philadelphia market will be able to rent four feature narrative films that are in the festival. In additon, they will be able to screen certain short films and other festival content for free.

Greenblatt said, “We are very excited for this channel and hope that it is the first of a multi-year initiative as we embrace new technology and forms of distribution.” He clarified, “Of course, we still encourage everyone to attend the festival in person, as there’s always more to see.”

Greenblatt analyzed another impact of technological developments on the festival.

“The industry has undergone dramatic changes over the last few years. Technological advances have made it much less expensive to produce films — and quality films, at that. Likewise, the rise of VOD, online streaming and other means of digital distribution has made it easier to get more films seen by a variety of audiences. This is especially true when social media are utilized as a key and inexpensive promotional tool for building an audience.”

Greenblatt concluded, “Many filmmakers now choose to eschew theatrical release, as it is an expensive and difficult route. Instead, they focus their time and marketing on direct digital releasing. In that scenario, these filmmakers tend to use festivals as their theatrical release, a way to build attention and audience for their films.” Greenblatt embraces this approach. “In addition to films that will receive a theatrical release, we actively try to program films that will not be commercially shown and in bringing their filmmakers to our festival.”

For more information on the Philadelphia Film Festival, visit filmadelphia.org. To register for free tickets in PFF on Us, email pffonus@filmadelphia.org or call 267-908-4733.

Nathan Lerner, the director of Davenport Communications, sees more than 200 feature films a year. He welcomes feedback at lernerprose@gmail.com.